Objects of microscopic examination in medical and other fields of science require pretreatment with reagent and embedment or infiltration of resins into the specimens for solidification. The embedded specimens are sectioned, and the sections are mounted on glass slides for optical microscopy and on mesh grids for electron microscopy.
Heretofore, for automatically embedding objects as above stated, apparatus has been used which comprises a plurality (e.g. 20) of reagent and resin containers, each in the form of an upstanding, open-top, bottomed cylinder, in annular arrangement. Embedding boxes containing objects of microstopic study have been dipped successively in the reagent and resin containers. The embedding boxes have been suspended from the periphery of a disc which is centrally supported by a rotary, vertically reciprocable post disposed at the center of the annular row of reagent and resin containers. The disk is moved up and down and rotated at intervals for dipping the embedding boxes in the successive containers.
The micrologist has, however, experienced some inconveniences with the foregoing prior art apparatus. Objects of microscopic study to be embedded are as small in size as from 0.5 by 0.5 millimeters (mm) to 1.0 by 1.0 mm. The embedding boxes for immersing such objects in required reagents are each approximately 10 mm in diameter. Nevertheless, from about 20 to 30 cubic centimeters (cc) of each reagent is required for processing a batch of, say, 20 objects. The used reagents must be discarded, and fresh supplies of reagents must be used for processing another batch. However, since some reagents are expensive, it is uneconomical to discard the considerable amounts of them each time one batch of objects is treated.
Another weakness of the prior art is that the embedding boxes holding the specimens are merely immersed in the liquid. This conventional method fails to realize ready infiltration of the liquid into the specimens.
A further drawback of the prior art manifests itself when, in the course of embedment, the specimens are immersed in alcohol of progressively higher concentrations, from about 50% up to 100%. The known apparatus has necessitated the provision of a series of five separate containers for 50%, 70%, 80%, 95% and 100% alcohol. Alcohol preparations of 50% and 100% concentrations are available on the market, but the micrologist has had to take the trouble of himself preparing the other concentrations.
The present invention aims at the elimination of all the foregoing inconveniences.